(“Make this quick, fellas, I got a softball game in like two hours.”)

What it do, nephews? Kimbo, Tank, Ricco, Bigfoot, and the rest of the gang are about to do battle at Miami’s Bank United Center. Watch the action on Showtime starting at 10 p.m. if you can, and/or follow our round-by-round results and commentary after the jump. Click the “more” link and refresh the page every few minutes, and let’s have some good clean fights out there. WAR FERGUSON!

If you haven’t been watching The Celebrity Apprentice…well, you’re not missing much. But our boy Tito is still in the game, and on Thursday’s episode he was part of a challenge where he and three teammates had to run a successful carriage-ride operation in New York’s Central Park. Jenna Jameson shows up with a wad of hot money she just got from God-knows-where, and they ride off. And she calls him “pumpkin.” And it’s really gross.

(Props: MMAFever)

Even at an early age, Tank Abbott understood the importance of training. The hard work will be on display tomorrow night.

(It’ll be like this, but worse.)

— We premiered the first episode of What Would Kimbo Do? Let that be a lesson to you, inconsiderate roommates! Episode 2 drops next week…

— Mirko Cro Cop left the UFC. Tim Sylvia threatened to do the same on his website, then thought better of it.

— “House of Peace and Prosperity,” Dana White, 2/2, green, and Jäger. Oh, and “banged some chick while doing a radio interview.”

— Akiro Gono wants to find a girl who’s attractive, respectful, and good with happy endings. (By the way, there’s an awesome update to that story here.)

— Two championship belts changed hands at WEC 32, while Jamie Varner demonstrated that a fighter can take a time-out if he really needs it.

— Matt Horwich is way awesome.

— We looked at three MMA reality shows with even worse concepts than Redbelt.

— We mocked the homely.

Remember: Tomorrow, 10 p.m., EliteXC: Street Certified, liveblog, be here.

Inside MMA is promising a must-see show tonight with “HUGE breaking news” (according to their press release) and a panel that includes Randy Couture, Kim Couture, and Gina Carano. They’ve also released a clip of tonight’s show where Kim Couture discusses training for her first MMA match and the sparring session in which Gina Carano broke her nose. We gotta say, Randy’s wife is lookin’ good — she kinda has a Speed-era Sandra Bullock thing going on. Meanwhile, Gina kinda has a tough-but-warmhearted-lesbian-who-rides-in-an-otherwise-all-male-motorcycle-club-on-the-weekends thing going on. And that’s why we love her.

Inside MMA‘s breaking news will most likely involve Couture’s escalating legal battle with Zuffa. This could be unrelated, but MMAPayout‘s Adam Swift has an article on Sherdog today about HDNet Fights’ new suit against the UFC parent company, which seeks “a declaratory judgment concerning the contractual status of Couture under his Zuffa promotional contract. In an ironic twist, Zuffa’s co-defendant in the suit is technically none other than Couture himself.” Inside MMA airs on HDNet tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET.

On the suggestion of reader “rheindog,” here’s Phil Baroni’s 18-second destruction of Dave Menne at UFC 39 (9/27/02). Baroni’s jackhammer-beatdown is memorable enough, but what makes this one classic is his Super-Guido celebration at the end: “I’m the best eva! I’m the man! I’m the man! I’m the man!” Unfortunately, he wasn’t — Baroni’s next four fights would result in losses at the hands of Matt Lindland, Evan Tanner (twice), and Pete Sell.

10. Trainer John Hackleman

Hack kind of looks like something Jim Henson might have sewn together while drunk and depressed.

9. Matt Lindland

A five-head that could cut glass…

8. Ben Rothwell

Don’t worry, Susie…those things will develop in a few years.

(Look out Kimbo, he’s got an air-shotgun!)

Brass tacks — EliteXC: “Street Certified” goes down tomorrow night at Miami’s Bank United Center; Showtime will broadcast the main card starting at 10 p.m., and we’ll be doing a liveblog, so swing by for live round-by-round results. And now, our predictions:

Tank vs. Kimbo (heavyweights): We all know how this is going to end. A month ago, we offered a “fantastic” prize to the CagePotato reader who could call the result the closest. Well, the prediction lines will be open until the end of the day, so throw a guess on the comments section of that page for your chance to win (what else) a signed copy of Iceman: My Fighting Life by Chuck Liddell. We’re sticking with our prediction of Kimbo winning by TKO (punches) in 59 seconds. MMABettingBlog says that since the betting odds on this match are so heavily stacked in Kimbo’s favor — he’s a -450 favorite, meaning you’d have to bet $450 on him to get $100 back if he wins — Tank is actually the smart money bet. Especially if you think losing money is smart.

Antonio Silva vs. Ricco Rodriguez (heavyweights): Speaking of sports betting, this fight reminds me of my personal rule — never bet against the streak. And as we discussed yesterday, Bigfoot Silva’s got a crazy one going: 10 fights, all of them lasting less than four minutes. Outside of the Ben Rothwell spit-debacle decision loss, Ricco “Suave” has been looking great lately, with six stoppage wins in his last seven fights. We just don’t think he’ll be able to deal with Silva’s size and power — Bigfoot by first-round GnP TKO. By the way, Rodriguez said this at yesterday’s press conference: “Win or lose, six months from now Antonio and I will be fighting again, probably for a title. We are the two best fighters in this organization right now. Tank and Kimbo are just tomato cans. We are the two real fighters.” We have a feeling Ricco might live to regret that quote…

Another injury has forced a fighter on the February 23rd Strikeforce At the Dome card to pull out of his fight. Yesterday, Brad Blackburn went down with a shoulder injury. MMAWeekly reports today that middleweight journeyman Cedric Marks has also tweaked his shoulder, and will be replaced by UFC veteran Joe Riggs, who will face 7-1 Washington-native Cory Devela. After a long stint in the Rage in the Cage organization and other regional shows, Riggs worked his way up to the UFC where he compiled a 4-4 record. His most notable match was a November 2005 fight against Matt Hughes that was scheduled to be for the welterweight title; Riggs failed to make weight, the match was downgraded into a non-championship fight, and Riggs lost anyway. His last fight was a first-round knockout victory over Eugene Jackson at a Strikeforce event last Sepember.

For your viewing pleasure…

Joe Riggs vs. Kendall Grove (5/7/04)

(Ferguson and Abbott sort of stare each other down; photo props: Tom Casino/EliteXC via FiveOunces)

Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbott participated in one last press conference for “Street Certified” yesterday at Bernie Kosar’s Steakhouse in Miami. It seems like the two have blown their respective-wads, hype-wise, but they did provide these quotes:

TANK ABBOTT:
— “Training has just evolved for this fight more than for any of my other opponents. I have taken it very seriously.”

— “Kimbo is going to get hurt, that’s for sure. The way I am and the shape I’m in right now I can’t fathom a human being who can take five minutes of my shots. I am on fire right now.”

— “I think it is funny that he’s got Bas Rutten to train him. This is a real fight, not a slap-fest. He should have gotten a real fighter to train him. Training with Bas is better than nothing. But you either have it or you don’t. Technique doesn’t make you tough.”

— “I think Kimbo’s motivation is to be on TV or on the Internet. I think that is why he fights. Me? I have been in over 200 street fights to various degrees, ranging from knocking a guy out at a stop light to sending someone to the ICU for a week. I fight because I love it…I like it because I can’t go to jail for it.”

— “If you make a strategy to fight someone you are developing little crutches for yourself. I don’t have a plan.”

— “Everybody gives me shit about my shape. I can do 15 minutes on my head holding my breath.”

KIMBO SLICE:
— “Tank is full of shit if he thinks I can’t take his punches. I’m bringing the whole thing to the cage. I am bringing the hood with me to this cage.”

— “This fight means a lot to not only me but the entire city. This is big time. That is why I am going to break his rib, break his nose, break his arm.”

— “There are a lot of things in my arsenal I am going to try to use. If he’s a tad bit slow, I’m going to hurt him. I’ve trained with the best. It is going to be a long fight for him, or a short night.”

— “The right hand is for his top lip, the left hand is for his bottom lip.”

— “Bas (Rutten) is a mentor of mine. Anything Tank has to say about Bas, I am going to take it personal. I am going to make him pay for his words.”

— “Tank has a very big mouth. He needs to be careful about what he says. We take a lot of things personal. I just hope I don’t run into him before the fight starts. I want to settle this in the cage.”

(“Don’t let me interrupt, Ladies. I’m just a simple fly on the wall.”)

(Captain Canada’s kryptonite?)

–Current UFC welterweight champ Matt “The Terror” Serra stokes the fires of his upcoming rematch with GSP at UFC 83. Serra recently chatted with MMA News during which he referred to GSP as “Captain Canada”:

“Well after what happen the first time with him tapping out, I mean they called it a TKO, but he tapped. I think now a lot of his attitude towards me has to do with his mental state. I think he needs me to be the bad guy. I mean whatever he’s got to do to get himself there is fine with me. I mean if he has to lie on the couch, and listen to his shrink to tell him to put Matt Hughes head on my body that’s cool. I definitely don’t hold him in the same light as Matt Hughes, but I think he’s got to put himself in the mindset that he doesn’t like me, and that’s cool. I got a lot of friends and family, so if he wants to be enemies it’s not the end of the world.”

Serra talked about his April 19th date with “Capt. Canada”, his prep, and insisted he’s 100% ready to go.

–The Fight Network reports that Brad Blackburn is pulling out of his welterweight fight with Ray Perales for “Strikeforce at the Dome”, slated for February 23rd at the Tacoma Dome. A shoulder injury is being blamed for the withdrawal. Blackburn was a member of the Seattle Tiger Sharks for a couple of years in the IFL where he was 3-2. Perales was set to face Blackburn for a second time – he won their first battle in 2005 via decision. No word on a replacement.

–And for some more changes, this Friday’s Cage Fighting Championships show in Australia has picked up Tristan Yunker to face headliner Hector Lombard. Ex-UFCer Jordan Radev was supposed to fight Judo-expert Lombard, but was denied a visa and couldn’t enter Australia. Yunker’s visa was ready to go. Coincidentally, Lombard had his own visa problems last November when he was to face Karo Parisyan, but couldn’t enter the country to do so. Kids, keep your papers up-to-date. Oh, and don’t do drugs.

A trailer has been released for the upcoming MMA-themed movie Redbelt, which was written and directed by David Mamet and co-stars Randy Couture. We tried to sum up the plot in our post about Caroline de Souza Correa, but it’s even weirder then we thought. Basically, Chiwetel Ejiofor plays this Art of War-quoting MMA instructor who likes to run a drill in which students have to fight with one arm tied to their body. So then, Joe Mantegna and Ricky Jay take his idea and turn it into the basis of a new MMA league. (Cripes, did Bob Meyrowitz do script supervision on this one?) Ejiofor gets pissed, especially when he learns that the game is rigged! For viewers who aren’t familiar with mixed martial arts, it could get a pass; for the rest of us, it kind of feels like hokey, artificial bullshit. Witness:

We’re somewhat willing to reserve judgment at this point, but we have a feeling Redbelt will fall far short of Mamet’s previous work:

(Props: MMA Mania)

(Randy, Rob Schneider, a parasol — pretty good little Saturday.)

The Fight Network has more details about the preliminary injunction that Zuffa has filed against Randy Couture, which we first mentioned last week. Here’s the broad strokes of the 90-page document: Couture’s association with the IFL, particularly his appearance at the IFL’s season opener on February 29th in Las Vegas, will cause the company “irreparable harm” and violates his contract.

Nothing we haven’t heard before, and if there really was a one-year restricted non-compete period in his contract, Couture will likely come out on the losing end of this one. From the article:

Xtreme Couture plans to field a team at the Feb. 29 IFL event, and Couture has said he intends to corner fighters from his camp at the show. Zuffa’s lawyers — who attached e-mails about the IFL card to its injunction request as evidence, including an IFL.tv screen grab that shows Couture’s face next to an Xtreme Couture logo — argue such advertisements constitute “direct or indirect competition” against the UFC.

Well, if Zuffa doesn’t like Randy’s IFL involvement, they’re really not going to like M-1′s latest cockamamie project. MMAFightline is reporting that M-1 Global is launching “M-1 Challenge,” in which various countries will field five-man MMA fight-teams to do battle against each other; think the IFL, but on a worldwide level. Coaching the Russian team will be Fedor Emelianenko, and slated to coach the American team is, of course, Randy Couture. We actually think this is a fantastic idea, except for two things:

1) This is M-1 we’re talking about here, so this project will never, ever get off the ground.
2) That lawsuit thing that Randy’s dealing with.

Aaaaaand, it now looks like his name has been removed from the “M-1 Challenge” post on M1Mixfight. Probably the best thing to do, what with all this legal heat. We’ll keep you updated…

In his 10 professional matches, Antonio “Bigfoot/Junior” Silva (9-1) has never been out of the first round. Eight of those fights ended in brutal KO/TKO victories, earning Silva a reputation as a lead-fisted brute who’s not to be trifled with, and compelling EliteXC’s Gary Shaw to claim that Silva could hang with any heavyweight in the world. But his last fight was different: At EliteXC: Renegade (11/10/07), Silva actually ended Jonathan Wiezorek’s night via rear-naked-choke — Bigfoot was evolving. Silva faces Celebrity Rehab resident Ricco Rodriguez Saturday night at Street Certified. If it turns out that Silva has more ways to win than just his enormous fists, Ricco will be popping some painkillers after this one. (If Dr. Drew lets him, that is.) Enjoy, and forgive the sound un-synchronization:

Though he’s currently riding a wave of success in the IFL, Matt Horwich’s story hasn’t always been filled with good news. Before he made it as a mixed martial artist, Horwich battled a drug and alcohol addiction that spiraled out of control. After a period of time spent squatting in abandoned houses and searching for ways to support his habit, Horwich recognized he had hit bottom and started fighting his way back.

He turned to spirituality and adopted a Zen-like quality that is equal-parts hippie, monk, and surfer dude. He credits his faith in God and the fighters at Team Quest for pulling him out of the quagmire his life was in and setting him on his current track. That track includes his first defense of his recently acquired IFL middleweight title, which will go down February 29th in Las Vegas – the day before his wedding. We recently chatted with Matt Horwich, where he discussed his favorite training partners, his array of nicknames, his love of the IFL, and his rockstar aspirations.

CagePotato: What are your thoughts on your title defense against Ryan McGivern?
Matt Horwich: I know a lot about Ryan, more than Tim Kennedy, because I fought him before and I’ve seen him fight quite a bit. He’s way awesome – it’s an honor to fight him again. Sometimes I think he forgets how good he is, like in the (Joe) Doerksen fight. I hope this will be one of the nights he forgets how good he is.

Have you been working on anything new to prepare for this fight?
I’ve been working on a lot of counter punches and takedown defense. Getting back up. I don’t want him to win a decision from taking me down again and not getting submitted. I’m not letting him pass guard this time.

You’ve skipped around to different camps and trained in different places. What’s been your favorite place to train?
My favorite place is my team, Team Quest. It’s a blessing that they have such a great group of guys to work with so I can be well prepared. As far as venturing out and training in other places, my favorite place has been Legends in Hollywood. I’m good friends with Eddie Bravo and he showed me a lot of good rubber guard stuff. And Chris Riley, the stand-up coach there, is my favorite kickboxing coach. I’d like to do some training with Bas Rutten again – he’s pretty close to there.

Your official nickname is “Sauve”, but you’ve also been called “The Fighting Hippy.” Two names with two very different vibes – which do you prefer?
I like them both alright. It’s cool to have more than one name. I like “Sauve” because it’s like relaxed and flowing and I like “Fighting Hippy” because it’s original. It’s good to be close to earth – it’s a beautiful universe and awesome things are always happening, all the awesome potential to do great things and make our dreams come true, and affect others positively.

(Ken-Flo)

— The UFC has released the official lineup for the televised portion of Ultimate Fight Night 13. Despite the ongoing petition to stretch it into three hours, the broadcast is still scheduled for two, with only four fights guaranteed airtime at this point: Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon, Thiago Alves vs. Karo Parisyan, Tim Boetsch vs. Matt Hamill (nice!), and Houston Alexander vs. James Irvin.

— The Zyen/Zuffa/Xyience situation is really starting to slip out of our comprehension, but it looks like the judge in Xyience’s bankruptcy case has allowed the Fertitta’s made-up company Xyen to continue making bail-out loans to the dying supplement-maker. Oh, what a tangled web we weave when trying to sustain a company we used to secure a fraudulent loan…

— Via Fightlinker: Big John McCarthy has started holding MMA refereeing seminars to pay the bills. Think you got what it takes to call a dangerously late stoppage? Put up 500 bones and prove it!

— Via BloodyElbow: This letter sums it up for all the pissed-off Canadians who are being frozen out of UFC 83.

— Arianny Celeste stopped by Jarry Park for a special Valentine’s Day interview and discussed her offer to pose nude in Playboy. Arianny, whatever they’re offering you, we’ll double it.

(The thrill of victory, and the agony of nearly having your head ripped off by Miguel Torres.)

Hey, three out of five ain’t bad, especially for us. WEC put on another satisfyingly kick-ass show last night — maybe smaller, hungrier fighters really are more exciting? — and the evening was marked by two champions getting their belts violently taken from them. Here are the full results, with videos of the title fights after the jump:

— Carlos Condit (defending champion) def. Carlo Prater via guillotine choke at 3:48, R1
— Jamie Varner (new champion) def. Rob McCullough via KO at 2:54, R3
— Miguel Torres (new champion) def. Chase Beebe via guillotine choke at 3:59, R1
— Manny Tapia def. Antonio Banuelos via split decision
— Leonard Garcia def. Hiroyuki Takaya via KO at 1:31, R1
— Josh Grispi def. Mark Hominick via rear naked choke at 2:55, R1
— Coty Wheeler def. Del Hawkins via armbar at 1:57, R2
— Damacio Page def. Scott Jorgensen via unanimous decision
— Yoshiro Maeda def. Charlie Valencia via TKO at 2:29, R1
— Micah Miller def. Chance Farrar via KO at 1:39, R1

Folks, you’re looking at a dead man.

(If you can’t kick above your own balls without grimacing, maybe being a professional fighter isn’t the best career path for you.)

(Exhibit B. He’s mugging like his ‘taint just split apart.)

(Punching makes Tank sleepy.)

(Classic bro-grab.)

(And after a hard day of training…)

(…the big payoff.)

(Thanks Sherdog)

(“Nightcap? No thank you, I don’t wear them.”)

With WEC 32 in full swing, there’s not much going on to warrant a full post, but here’s a few things worth mentioning:

-Speaking of WEC 32, featherweight Micah Miller initially failed to make weight when he came in at 147.5 lbs on his first try. Hours later, he came in at 146 lbs. Thank God for Metamucil. The Berry Blast is divine.

-Drug tests were given to some of the fighters from UFC 81 by the NSAC. The event’s headliners – Brock Lesnar, Tim Sylvia, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir – all passed with flying colors. Additional fighters that were tested were chosen at random, which is the norm. They include Ricardo Almeida, Tim Boetsch, Marvin Eastman, Rob Emerson, Tyson Griffin, Jeremy Horn, Chris Lytle and Nate Marquardt. All passed according to drug test kingpin, Keith Kizer.

-The MMA world has been abuzz about Cro Cop’s departure from the UFC and his signing with Dream. We won’t get into it now, but more than one site has already started whispering about Fedor/Cro Cop II. Fedor won their first fight – in PRIDE, 2005 – via unanimous decision.

(“I’m back, Bitches!”)

The IFL sent out a press release today detailing their second event in 2008. And true to the organization’s word, multiple titles will be on the line. Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko, Jay “The Thorobred” Hieron, and Wagnney Fabiano will all be defending their belts at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. during a nine-bout event on Friday, April 4th. The three championship bouts will be accompanied by match-ups between camps including Renzo Gracie Academy, Midwest Combat, Miletich Fighting Systems, and American Top Team. No word if Kyra Gracie will be among the RG Academy’s fighters.

What did Bas Rutten, IFL Vice President of Fighter Operations, have to say about the event, you might ask?

“I like the local feel of this card,” said Bas Rutten, IFL Vice President, Fighter Operations. “In addition to three outstanding championship matchups, featuring fighters from New York and New Jersey, you have Renzo Gracie’s camp, which was the champion last year, Midwest Combat, which features our top fighters from the Chicago area, and great battles with the Miletich camp and American Top Team, which we are very excited to have on board.”

American Top Team – based out of Florida – is considered outside of the core IFL camps and is one of the first to compete under the new IFL format.

“The Janitor” defected to the U.S. when he was a member of the Belarus wrestling team in the 90′s and became the IFL’s first individual champion when he won the light heavyweight title against Alex Schoenauer in November. He will face Jamal “The Suit” Patterson (God, these fucking nicknames), a sales manager for an orthodontics company. That’s even worse than being a real estate agent – not that we’re judging.

(Rob McCullough and Jamie Varner face off next to some bored douche with a backstage pass; photo props to MMAWeekly.)

If you rely on this site for MMA news — terrible idea, by the way — you’d hardly be aware that World Extreme Cagefighting is holding an event tonight at the Santa Ana Star Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Apologies; we had other things to deal with. But if the last WEC show was any indication, you could be in store for a wild time if you tune into Versus beginning at 9pm ET/6pm PT, especially since three championship belts are on the line. Here’s what the matchups look like:

MAIN CARD
Carlos Condit (champion) vs. Carlo Prater (for WEC Welterweight Title)
Rob McCullough (champion) vs. Jamie Varner (for WEC Lightweight Title)
Chase Beebe (champion) vs. Miguel Torres (for WEC Bantamweight Title)
Manny Tapia vs. Antonio Banuelos (bantamweights)
Leonard Garcia vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (featherweights)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Josh Grispi vs. Mark Hominick (featherweights)
Del Hawkins vs. Coty Wheeler (bantamweights)
Charlie Valencia vs. Yoshiro Maeda (bantamweights)
Micah Miller vs. Chance Farrar (featherweights)
Scott Jorgensen vs. Damacio Page (bantamweights)

Let’s take a look at that main card, shall we?

— Garcia vs. Takaya: The last time I remember seeing Leonard Garcia, his face was being punched into burger by Roger Huerta at UFC 69. Following his rough UFC debut, Garcia beat Allen Berubie, lost a decision to Cole Miller, and decided to drop to a more competitive weight of 145 and join the WEC. But he won’t have an easy time against “Streetfight Bancho,” who has been in the cage with stars like Gilbert Melendez, Genki Sudo, and Gesias Calvancante during his residencies with Shooto and K-1. Sure, he lost to those guys, but experience counts, and we think his striking power will be too much for Garcia to handle.

— Tapia vs. Banuelos: If Manny Tapia wins this fight, he could be next in line to challenge for the bantamweight belt after the dust settles on Beebe/Torres. The jiu-jitsu specialist was a destroyer in King of the Cage, racking up an 8-0-1 record before winning his WEC debut last May against Brandon Foxworth. Banuelos is a good friend of Chuck Liddell’s, and even though he’s got the Iceman and John Hackleman feeding him pointers at The Pit, his recent fight history — four wins by decision and two losses by first-round knockout — raises some concerns. Not being able to finish a fight will hurt him against someone as aggressive as Tapia. We’re thinking this is one of those “loss by first-round knockout” kind of nights for Banuelos.

It’s finally here! Kimbo Slice dishes out some poetic justice, garbage-can-style, in the series premiere of What Would Kimbo Do? Enjoy, and let us know what you think…

(Every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man.)

World Victory Road has announced that “Sengoku” – their March 5th show – will feature Takanori Gomi and Duane “Bang” Ludwig squaring off at the National Yoyogi Stadium Gymnasium No. 1. It’s both a stadium and a gymnasium and apparently the first of several like it. You’ll recall that Gomi signed with WVR after the UFC couldn’t come to terms with the superstar lightweight. Gomi earns around $190k per fight – not quite Brock Lesnar money, but still a payday I wouldn’t kick out of bed.

Gomi last fought a year ago when he was submitted by Nick Diaz, but that one was changed to a no-decision after Nick was busted for tokin’. Ludwig beat Shinya Kumazawa via submission last year, then lost to Paul Daley via TKO. He rebounded by beating Mario Stapel with a KO in less than two minutes. He’s 16-7 compared to Gomi’s 27-3 record.

Two other fights were also revealed for WVR’s March 5th event. BodogFight champ Nick “The Goat” Thompson is set to do battle with Fabricio “Pitbull” Monteiro. Ryo Kawamura will face Antonio Braga Neto. The Goat is 34-9-1 and Monteiro is 16-6. His last fight was a TKO loss to Mohamed Khacha, while Thompson is on a ten fight win streak. Kawamura is 7-2-2 in his young career, but went 2-2 in 2007. Neto is undefeated in four professional fights, three of them from last year.

WVR signed Kazuyuki Fujita last week and they have also slated him for “Sengoku”, although an opponent has not been named. Other fighters that are to be involved in the show are:

-Kazuo Misaki v Siyar Bahadurzada
-Makoto Takimoto v Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos
-Hidehiko Yoshida v Roger Gracie (rumored)

With these new additions to who they already have, WVR looks poised to put on a solid fucking show. The UFC’s inability to sign or resign top fighters has certainly been the gain of other organizations. WVR has been one to capitalize quickly.

The UFC recently allowed Las Vegas’s ABC affiliate to poke around the set of The Ultimate Fighter 7. Though an unusually reserved Rampage questioned the mental capacity of himself and his rival coach, Forrest Griffin was able to correctly use the word “curmudgeon.” You be the judge:

Update: The video embed went fubar. Watch it here. (Windows Media Player required)

(“I got your pay cut right here…”)

And so ends the sad tale of Mirko Filipovic joining the UFC; alack, t’wasn’t meant to be.

After the UFC tried to downwardly re-negotiate terms on the the struggling heavyweight legend’s contract, Mirko Cro Cop said “Ne slažem se,” then flew to Japan where he announced his signing to a new fight club called DREAM. The Japanese promotion was recently founded by Fight Entertainment Group (owners of K-1) along with former executives of Dream Stage Entertainment (PRIDE).

We’re not so much feelin’ the name, but these dudes are coming out swinging: In addition to a heavyweight bout between Filipovic and a yet-unnamed opponent, DREAM’s inaugural show at the Saitama Super Arena on March 15th will also include the first round of a lightweight Grand Prix tournament which will feature that fight between Shinya Aoki and Gesias “JZ” Calvancante. Nightmare of Battle reports that such international stars as Gilbert Melendez, Andre Dida, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Caol Uno, Joachim Hansen, and Luiz Azeredo will also be participating in the tournament, and MMA Junkie says that Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Kazushi Sakuraba have been booked for bouts at the first DREAM show as well.

Though no formal statement from the UFC has been released yet, we’re looking forward to Dana White calling Cro Cop a “farce” who “isn’t a top-ten heavyweight anyway.”

(Her best angle.)

The UFC’s relationship with upstart Octagon Girl “Edith Labelle” — a.k.a. Edith Larente, a.k.a. Anabelle — has been made official with a new photo-shoot on UFC.com. Check it out, if you’re into that sort of thing.

In other chick-news, MMA Girl Joanne has found a new companion to roll with. A series of videos posted to YouTube yesterday shows her and “Jenny” demonstrating some half-guard techniques. The first part is below, parts two and three are after the jump.

(“Oh shiiiiiiiiiit!”)

We’re not the only website trying to claim credit for this prediction, but basically we called it: It’s been confirmed that Tim “The Heath Killer” Boetsch will step in for the injured Stephan Bonnar to face Matt Hamill at Ultimate Fight Night 13. No word yet if the fight will be on the main card, but the official lineup with be announced shortly.

And there’s even more good news, as a tenth match has been added to the card: UFC.com now shows that TUF 6 castmembers George Sotiropoulos and Roman Mitichyan will meet in the Octagon. Sotiropoulos was the Australian Team Serra standout who rolled his way into the semis where Tommy Speer poked him in the eye then GnP’d him to sleep. Mitichyan was the dude who broke his elbow in episode one and then freaked out when he wasn’t allowed to fight through it. Both men are coming off of wins at December’s Ultimate Fighter 6 finale.

(My shorts rock the party!)

Rumors have been swirling about Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic’s retirement/leaving the UFC/switching organizations for the past week or so. He currently makes $350k per fight, plus bonuses and was signed to the contract when many thought he would dominate his division. After losing 2 of 3 fights and having no appeal for the UFC, Dana White has asked Cro Cop to sign a somewhat less-lucrative contract – the option being to re-sign or to sit out the remainder of the contract.

Has Cro Cop made a decision? Here’s yesterday’s non-announcement from his personal blog:

“I promised to share some news with you today and I feel bad by not doing so. There are some reasons for this that I can’t speak of at the moment. However, I promise to make the statement as soon as possible. Thank you for supporting me and I hope that little more patience is not too much to ask.”

And then today, he followed that up with a prelude to an announcement:

“I’m off to Tokyo! A big announcement will come straight from Japan tomorrow (February 13). When the official part is done I’ll be able to provide more information about everything, and believe me, I have many things to say. What you could easily guess by now is that I won’t be retiring. I’ll keep on fighting, it’s my life, it’s what I do.”

So he promised an announcement tomorrow (the 13th). And you’ve got to love the classic Dana in this one. He’s more than willing to let – actually make – Cro Cop sit out the remainder of his contract, and is equally as willing to dump millions on a lawsuit against Randy Couture for wanting to do the same thing.

(He raps, he acts…why not MMA management?)

Some days have themes and today’s is MMA reality shows. Remember that show “Iron Ring Fighting” from BET? Yeah, most of us don’t. It started strong out of the gates with its announcement last summer, but then crapped out shortly thereafter. Well, the show has been chuggin’ along and will tape the season finale on Monday February 18th in New Orleans.

The finale will star all of the show’s competitors, who are set to debut on Black Entertainment Television in March. The show features six teams who are, um, managed by some of the brightest dudes in MMA. We’re talkin’ Floyd Mayweather, St. Louis rap-star Nelly, actor/rapper Ludacris, actor/rapper T.I., professional screamer Lil Jon, Dipset, as well as some other sports/entertainment types. But before you write this show off as being devoid of any true MMA talent, there are coaches assigned to each team – guys including Shonie Carter, Roberto Traven, Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett, trainer Abdul Mutakabbir, instructor Jermaine Andre, and trainer Novell Bell.

Maybe that’s why “Krazy Horse” was dropped from the EliteXC: Street Certified show – he’s got fighters to usher into greatness. The finale will reportedly be taped in front of a live audience just two days after the EliteXC event and tickets are available from $45 to $350.

If you’re worried about the broadcast team, Frank Trigg has confirmed he will be part of it as the color commentator. The show will air six episodes on BET. Because all this makes so much sense, CMT is now putting together their own MMA reality show. Managers include Willie Nelson, Junior Brown, Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash’s third cousin. Should be a foot stompin’ good time.